Board members who promise introductions and then never make them. How do you actually get them to move?
Stop asking for introductions. It is an open-ended request with no deadline and it dies on their to-do list under things with deadlines.
Instead, bring three named people to the board meeting, on a slide. ‘These are the three people we want to reach this quarter. Who here knows any of them?’ Then, in the room, ask the one who nods to send one forwardable email, and give them the text of it right there.
The difference in yield is enormous. A vague promise costs them nothing to make and everything to keep. A specific named ask, in a room, pre-written, is very hard to avoid.
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we did the named-slide version last month and got two intros out of a board that has produced zero in two years.
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I would add: put it in the minutes as an action with a name and a date. Boards behave very differently when their commitments are minuted.
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